


Beneath the Smiles Are Scars

by MYuzuki



Category: Mega Man X7, Rockman X | Mega Man X
Genre: Character Study, Don't Judge Me, Gen, I Don't Even Know, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, My First Work in This Fandom, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Signas POV, because he seems like an observational fella, kind of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 01:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21539215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: Signas still isn't sure what to think of Axl.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 37





	Beneath the Smiles Are Scars

**Author's Note:**

> Why am I writing fic for a game that came out over sixteen years ago and was never very popular, you ask? Because I'm a hopeless dork, apparently! :P

Signas still isn't sure what to think of Axl.

At first glance, he's exactly what he appears to be: a cocky immature brat with an itchy trigger finger.

He's overeager when it comes to fighting and dismissive of other people's concerns. He is, essentially, the Reploid equivalent of a stereotypical teenager. It's easy to see why X and Zero find him irritating; compared to the veteran Maverick Hunters they're accustomed to working with, Axl is a rank amateur with far too much attitude.

And if Signas were to judge on first appearances, on the boisterous and arrogant things Axl _says_ and the way he charges ahead in a way that's almost painfully reckless…well, the judgment seems accurate enough.

But then Signas will catch a glimpse of something else, something more.

Sometimes, when no one else is looking, the ever-present smirk that Axl wears will fade and fall away, and something more serious and introspective will take its place.

Sometimes, when no one else is looking, Axl will glance at the giant screen in mission control, the one displaying their current targets, and something like regret will creep into his expression; it's only there for a second before it vanishes, buried beneath a too-bright grin and a careless remark that makes everyone else shake their heads at him, but Signas sees it.

Axl is definitely still an immature brat with an attitude. But Signas can't help but wonder if that's all there is to him. Because he can't help but remember that this kid had been, until just recently, one of the most dangerous operatives in the Red Alert Syndicate. Their top assassin, if Signas's estimation of the kid's infiltration abilities is correct. So valuable to that bounty hunting organization that they were willing to wage a war in all but name against the Maverick Hunters for custody of him.

No organization, no matter how overconfident in their strength, picks a fight with another powerful group over a subpar operative. So Axl is valuable, not just for his abilities but also his skills.

(There are probably personal attachments involved as well; Red Alert's leader had spoken of Axl with a familiarity that implies closeness and Axl himself hadn't done anything to dissuade the assumption that they'd been on good terms before his defection from Red Alert. And surely someone like Axl, with his easy smile and upbeat attitude, would have had other friends in the Syndicate; going up against former allies has to be difficult on him.

Of course, Axl isn't exactly volunteering very much information about himself and his former comrades beyond the absolute bare minimum, so perhaps Signas is just putting too much stock in what little he's seen so far.)

And then there's the issue of Axl's defection itself. Part of Signas is still suspicious, because the _timing_ of the entire situation -conveniently right when X has decided to step away from the front-lines and pursue a more pacifist mindset- is very much suspect. And the fact that Axl's defection from Red Alert has prompted a no-holds-barred conflict to break out between the two organizations certainly hasn't endeared the kid to anyone, especially Signas who's stuck dealing with the logistics of it. If Signas was inclined to look at the situation with a cynical eye, he would suspect treachery, a betrayal of some sort once they've let down their guard around the new kid.

A cynical and suspicious person would look at Axl and expect a betrayal, a hidden agenda of some kind. It's only logical, really.

But Signas looks at him, and remembers him saying "Red Alert changed" in the tone of someone who's had their entire world tilted sideways. He remembers Axl saying that his former comrades are "no better than murderers now" and perhaps it shouldn't mean much coming from one of Red Alert's top operatives -someone who by X's standards might be one of the worst offenders despite his relative youthfulness- but somehow it does.

Because the kid had said "We used to only attack bad guys" and he'd meant it.

(And more to the point, Signas thinks it might even be true; up until a few months ago, Red Alert had been acting outside the boundaries of the law, true, but not actually against the best interests of society. They had been taking down Mavericks, and helping to make the world safer for humans and Reploids alike.

But then something had changed, and their targets had shifted drastically. Mavericks were still eliminated from time to time, but other Reploids had been targeted as well. Threats and innocents alike had been pursued according to no sane pattern that Signas has been able to discern.)

"I couldn't take it anymore," Axl had said, and it had sounded like a confession, an admission of defeat from someone who'd just fled the only life they'd ever known.

(It had sounded like grief, buried down deep so as to hide the weakness of it.)

And it shouldn't mean anything, but it _does_. Because Axl was with Red Alert, that's true. He was a bounty hunter at best and an assassin at worst, and yet…

And yet.

He'd _left_ Red Alert. He'd seen things changing in a way he disagreed with, and had walked away from it all. Had walked away from _everything_ he'd known because there were lines he wouldn't cross.

If even someone like Axl, with his genuine love for battle and his blatantly mercenary mindset, can recognize the distinction between eliminating genuine threats and eliminating innocents and _care_ about it…well, that's something else entirely, isn't it?

("I couldn't take it anymore," he'd said, and coming from someone who'd served the interests of Red Alert without question until now that _means_ something.

Signas just isn't sure what, yet.)

X may look at Axl and see only his crimes, and Zero may look at Axl and see only his relative inexperience, but Signas sees something more. He sees a young Reploid with a good heart. Misguided occasionally in regards to methodology and with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm for fighting, but with good intentions and the determination to see them through. He's dangerous, certainly, with his abilities. But the kid's clearly trying to be something better than just a killer. He wouldn't have left the Red Alert Syndicate, otherwise. Wouldn't look at X and Zero with such open admiration, otherwise.

So no, Signas still isn't sure what to think of Axl.

But the more he watches the kid, the more he thinks he understands.

**Author's Note:**

> So, to give a little background on how/why I wrote this: MMX7 was actually the first Mega Man X game I played all the way through, and despite the wonky camera angles and occasionally over-the-top voice acting it still holds a place of great fondness in my heart. X and Zero are longtime faves and I absolutely ADORE Axl. That being said, as much as I liked the story, I always craved more character-oriented material (I'm like this with absolutely all media I consume, so I suppose that's not a surprise, haha). 
> 
> So, because I adore Axl so much and because I think there's so much that can be written about him, I threw together this little ficlet. And before anyone says anything: yes, I am aware the fandom is dead, lol. I just love the games a lot, and wanted to write something self-indulgent. We'll just call it a reward to myself for getting full points on my marketing project, shall we? ;D There may or may not be future chapters, from different POVs and from different points during the storyline. Depends on my MMX muse, really. We shall see. :P 
> 
> Basically, I'm a dork who still loves the MMX franchise and I wanted to write some half-assed character studies. So here we are. ;D


End file.
